SPAIN

Today, I arrived in Spain. After quite a lengthy, over-night orientation in NYC, a 7 hour flight to Switzerland, a 4 hour layover, and a 2 hour flight to Madrid.... Here I am! It is beautiful and..... HOT! 

We had dinner and an arrival orientation which didn't include too much, but I am now pleased to say that I will leave in the morning at 7 o'clock for the train station, and head to Pamplona, where my host family will pick me up! I am beyond incredibly excited and ecstatic that I am finally here, but it still doesn't feel real and I don't think it will until I actually meet my family and sleep in my bed. 

One thing that I was expecting but dreading was drinks with no ice. A cold glass of water will only keep from becoming room temperature if it is paired with ice, and sadly, Spaniards do not put ice in their drinks. Room-temperature drinks may not be as refreshing as ice-cold drinks, but they do go down the pipe better! 

As I have not much more to say, I will update again in another couple days (or weeks) as I see fit.

Despedida!

Lilly

PS everyone thinks I'm weird for bringing my javelin with me and carrying it around in a PVC pipe.

electonics and stuff

As I have about 6 days until I board my plane for Switzerland, I have been running around frantically. Checking, double-checking and triple-checking to make sure I have everything I need. Today I received my debit card and 150 euros. About a week ago I opened a bank account with Santander. I chose Santander because while it is a bank in the US, it is also a popular bank in Spain. Luckily for me, there happens to be a Santander bank in Tudela, the city I will live in. Along with my banking, we also purchased a laptop with a detachable monitor (acting sort of like a tablet), European plug adapters and a handheld English-Spanish translator. With the translator..... We originally planned on buying just a small, pocket-sized Spanish dictionary. But after looking at a couple and searching for many minutes for specific words, we decided that although cheaper, it was just too inconvenient and too much of a hassle. At this point, I feel fully prepared for Spain. Except for the packing part... I began packing a couple weeks ago, just before Momoka arrived... I have not done much since. I understand that I leave for New York in 4 days and I need to have everything packed SOON, but it is such a tedious process and I get distracted so easily. I PLAN, HOPE and PRAY that I am able to get mostly everything packed by the end of tomorrow, as I will be busy most of Friday. We will see, and even if it all ends on Sunday evening in a giant rush (knock on wood) at least I should be good to go by the time we leave. No matter how badly I procrastinate, it will all be OK in the end..... Won't it?

What's weird is that I have known Momoka for only about two weeks and I already know that I am going to miss her. It kind of makes me upset that I was here for the beginning of her exchange and we have become rather close friends, but I will not be able to experience many things with her though out the year. Things like homecoming, first crushes, Friday night football, family vacations, are all things that I am sure I will miss, but I am more saddened by the thought that I will not be able to witness all of Momoka's firsts.

I had my going away party two weekends ago, it was fun and exciting and got me hype to leave. I was a bit surprised by the fact that although I was happy all of my friends were supporting me, I wasn't worried about missing them too much. I love them all, don't get me wrong, but I am just excited to begin my life in Spain. I don't think it has quite hit me yet how long a year really is and how much I love all of the people around me. Below are a few pictures from my party.

Stupid visa

I can easily, without a doubt say that the visa process is the hardest, most stupid, and difficult for no reason thing that had to do with going to Spain. To everyone who will be reading this, thinking about studying abroad next year, I'm not going to make it out to be a stroll in the park. Because it's not. It's hard and annoying. 

When you first start, the paperwork seems like a lot and VERY overwhelming. But once you get it all together, you realize that it wasn't that difficult. My ONE recommendation would be to go onto the consulate website ATLEAST 2 and a half months ahead of time to make your appointment. Me and my mom went on in late May and the earliest appointment they had was August 7, which is cutting it very close. Luckily, a week later a couple spots opened up in late June. But not lucky. THE DAY BEFORE we left for NYC, we were told that I can't get my spanish visa unless I have my school in Spain. Ugh. Wow so I have my host family, but not school. So that day we cancelled me June 23 appointment, and scheduled the nearest appointment....... September 3. Yes. Exactly, do not procrastinate with scheduling the appointment or else you may be leaving separately than everyone else. BUUUUUTTTT, today, my mom called me and told me that a couple slots opened up in late July, which is exactly what we needed! I was also able to message my friend Ryan (who's luck was not much better than mine with a date of September 2) and tell him to get on the website and get booked!! The appointments get booked VERY fast and really the only way to get one without missing it is to refresh the site every half hour. Yes, that is what my mother and I did for about 4 days straight. But anyway, I just felt the need to post because I am so ecstatic. 

So, I already have like 8 posts or something like that, and I'm not even in Spain yet..... My prediction is that as soon as I get there, I will either post all the time, or drop off the side of the earth and just forget about my blog as my new life progresses. I guess we have yet to see.... 68 days and counting!

Buenas Tardes,

Lilly

Cannot wait!

As I got my host family a couple days ago, I have been communicating with my host mom via email. At first we were speaking in English until she told me that she doesn't actually speak fluent English..... That's when I decided I might a well get a head start on my Spanish, and try my best to write by myself.... Although I have been using google translate for assistance (about 1/3 of every email) but hey, practice makes perfect right? So I learned that I will be living in a beautiful, small, red house and I fell in love the first time I saw it.... On google earth I might add. I just typed in the address that was listed under my placement page and BOOM there is my beautiful future home. I fell in love instantly. I've been talking to my mom. About family and sports. I told her that I really love track and field and would like to participate in it while in Spain if possible, but if there wasn't a club nearby, any sport would suffice. And guess what? The VERY next day, my host mom emailed me saying that she found a track club for me and that she would sign me up if I wanted to do it. Ding ding ding. Now I already love my house AND my mom. I cannot wait to begin my life with them!! 

This is the home of the family that I will soon call my own. 95 days and counting......

Hasta la proxima,

Lilly